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Submission + - Curious about FreeBSD? Try VirtualBSD 4

Submitted by ReeceTarbert
ReeceTarbert writes: If you are curious about FreeBSD but don't have the time or the resources to install it and customize it, VirtualBSD might be right for you: it's a VMware appliance based on FreeBSD 8.1-RELEASE that comes with the Xfce 4.6 Desktop Environment and some of the most common applications so it can be used right out of the box. The best part? This is a genuine FreeBSD 8.1-RELEASE, which means you can either stick to the desktop or dig around in the knowledge that you are dealing with The Real Thing. If the screenshots whet your appetite why don't you got to the download page and grab the torrent file right away?
Crime

FBI Defend Raids On Texas Datacenter 115

Posted by timothy from the we're-from-the-govt-and-we're-here-to-help dept.
Aryden writes "Wired Reports: 'The FBI on Tuesday defended its raids on at least two data centers in Texas, in which agents carted out equipment and disrupted service to hundreds of businesses. The raids were part of an investigation prompted by complaints from AT&T and Verizon about unpaid bills allegedly owed by some data center customers, according to court records. One data center owner charges that the telecoms are using the FBI to collect debts that should be resolved in civil court. But on Tuesday, an FBI spokesman disputed that charge.'"

Submission + - USB stick for Techs 1

Submitted by SmoothBreaker
SmoothBreaker writes: Slashdot readers, I'm working on a project for both my own company and my current full time employer, where we will have a usb stick loaded with apps and utilities to be used on systems to set parameters, troubleshoot, etc. However, the desired level of control is to restrict the drive to write permissions and allow the programs to run, but require only certain users to delete data from them, to prevent accidental deletions of the files and yet be ubiquitous across user machines and any domain. I havent found anything that seems to quite address that level of control. Am I missing a good solution, or is this only a pipe dream?
Botnet

Submission + - Microsoft will look to courts for botnet takedowns (computerworld.com)

Submitted by CWmike
CWmike writes: Microsoft has seen a dramatic drop in the number of computers infected with Waledac, a piece of malicious software affiliated with a botnet that was once responsible for a massive amount of spam. In the second quarter of this year, it cleaned only 29,816 computers infected with the malware, down from 83,580 computers in the first quarter. The drop shows the success of the legal action Microsoft took earlier in the year, said Adrienne Hall, general manager for Microsoft's Trustworthy Computing group. Waledac was used to send spam and infect computers with fake antivirus software. It used a complicated peer-to-peer system to communicate with other infected machines. Microsoft's legal moves against Waledac were unprecedented. The company was granted a rare ex parte temporary restraining order (TRO) to shut down malicious domain names that Waledac's controllers used to communicate with infected machines. Going to court 'gives you a blanket way to put on notice that you are going to look into the perpetrators,' Hall said.
Government

Argentine Government Orders Major ISP To Close 152

Posted by Soulskill from the pack-your-stuff-and-get-out dept.
Doctor Jonas writes "Argentine ISP Fibertel has been barred from continuing operations because of the dissolution of their status as a company after they were absorbed by Cablevisión of Argentina, now part of media conglomerate Grupo Clarín. The Minister of Planning, Julio de Vido, announced the measure, and said it was Grupo Clarín's own doing by having shut down the Fibertel company and turning it into a commercial brand, and that ISP licenses are not transferable after acquisitions from one company to the other. The Argentine opposition said the move was another attack on Grupo Clarín's standing and another part of the feud between them and President Cristina Fernández and her husband, former president Nestor Kirchner. Cablevisión has promised to go to the courts to overturn the decision, and the opposition seeks to protect Fibertel's continuing operations through a bill in Congress. More than a million households and businesses would need to change ISPs in merely 90 days, possibly strengthening the internet provisioning dominance of both Telefónica (subsidiary of the Spanish Telefonica) and Telecom."

Submission + - Job Switching: What were your experiences?

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Having graduated a couple of years ago, I accepted a job at a fairly prestigious company in an industry in which I have little interest or knowledge for the high pay, the experience and the promise of training. Two years later, I'm unmotivated and bored by a variety of factors (broken promises, lack of real work, flawed processes / procedures, time wastage and unneccessary bureaucracy to name a few).
I'm seriously considering looking for a job in my field of expertise, but I'm concerned that a) I may be jumping the gun and there are other roles within my (huge) company that might suit me, b) I've only been here for two years and haven't accrued sufficient experience and c) this might be what awaits me in other industries.
What have your experiences been in moving industries/jobs, and what recommendations can you make for those of us without much experience in the workforce?
Data Storage

Submission + - Dell To Acquire 3PAR For $1.15B (zacks.com)

Submitted by rexjoec
rexjoec writes: Dell Inc. signed a definitive agreement to acquire enterprise storage products manufacturer 3PAR Inc.. The deal has been valued at $1.15 billion.
HP

Submission + - HP CEO's Browsing History Used Against Him

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: Anything you browse can and will be used against you. An investigation of ousted HP CEO Mark Hurd's surfing history reportedly convinced the HP Board that Hurd had had a personal relationship with sexual harassment accuser Jodie Fisher, even if not sexual. Just the latest example of how HP 'work[s] together to create a culture of inclusion built on trust, respect and dignity for all.' The WSJ reported a person close to the investigation said Hurd had looked at clips from racy films featuring Ms. Fisher, a former actress, while someone 'familiar with Mr. Hurd's thinking' said he merely did a Google search of 10 minutes or so. One wonders how many more 'personal relationships' with Ms. Fisher the browser histories of HP's 304,000 worldwide employees might reveal. BTW, nice to see that Hurd has made it to HP's ex-CEO-Hall-of-Fame page.
The Almighty Buck

EVE Player Loses $1,200 Worth of Game Time In-Game 620

Posted by Soulskill from the sorry-about-your-luck dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Massively.com has reported that an EVE Online player recently lost over $1,200 worth of in-game items during a pirate attack. The player in question was carrying 74 PLEX in their ship's cargo hold — in-game 'Pilot's License Extensions' that award 30 days of EVE Online time when used on your account. When the ship was blown up by another player, all 74 PLEX were destroyed in the resulting blast, costing $1,200 worth of damage, or over 6 years of EVE subscription time, however you prefer to count it. Ow."

Submission + - RIAA's Tenenbaum verdict cut from $675k to $67.5k (blogspot.com) 1

Submitted by NewYorkCountryLawyer
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: In SONY BMG Music Entertainment v. Tenenbaum, the Court has reduced the jury's award from $675,000, or $22,500 per infringed work, to $67,500, or $2,250 per infringed work, on due process grounds, holding that the jury's award was unconstitutionally excessive. In a 64-page decision (PDF), District Judge Nancy Gertner ruled that the Gore, Campbell, and Williams line of cases was applicable to determining the constitutionality of statutory damages awards, that statutory damages must bear a reasonable relationship to the actual damages, and that the usual statutory damages award in even more egregious commercial cases is from 2 to 6 times the actual damages. However, after concluding that the actual damages in this case were ~ $1 per infringed work, she entered a judgment for 2250 times that amount. Go figure.

Submission + - BBC to create Internet Protocol TV standard (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by Robadob
Robadob writes: The BBC has been given the go-ahead for a project which could kick-start demand for internet TV.

Project Canvas is a partnership between the BBC, ITV, BT, Five, Channel 4 and TalkTalk to develop a so-called Internet Protocol Television standard.

The BBC Trust — the corporation's governing body — made its decision after extensive consultation.

The trust's Diane Coyle said the partnership "will deliver significant public value for licence fee payers".

The trust will review the BBC's involvement against the conditions of its approval, 12 months after Canvas launches to consumers.

The service will see a range of set-top boxes available to access on-demand TV services such as iPlayer and ITVplayer.

Project director Richard Halton said he was "delighted" by the trust's decision.

"This brings the benefits of next-generation TV to all consumers, including those who choose not to subscribe to pay-TV," he said.

"We look forward to rising to that challenge."

Conditions

The trust gave the BBC a provisional go-ahead to become involved in the project last December.

It was decided that Canvas would have a series of positive impacts, including furthering the growth of on-demand TV.

"People with a broadband connection will be able to access a wide range of on-demand content including BBC iPlayer, free of charge, through their TV sets," said Ms Coyle.

"We have however applied a number of conditions to the BBC's involvement in the venture in recognition of the potential impacts on the market if Canvas is successful."

The trust has imposed several conditions on the BBC, including:

        * Viewers must be able to watch BBC programmes without a subscription.
        * The BBC must report on whether accessibility features, such as audio description, have been incorporated in the system.
        * The Trust will review the signposting of content and parental controls at a later date.
        * Technical specifications must be published within 20 working days of the Trust's approval, to allow broadcasters and set-top box manufacturers to adapt to the Canvas standard.
        * The final core specifications must be published no later than eight months before set-top boxes are launched.
        * Other broadcasters and content providers must have access to the platform.
        * A Trust review, 12 months after its launch, will assess the effects Canvas has on the partner's incentives to syndicate their content to other platforms.
        * The BBC will need further approval if costs exceed those projected by more than 20% in any one year.
Microsoft

Mass SQL Injection Attack Hits Sites Running IIS 288

Posted by Soulskill from the oft-repeated-headlines dept.
Trailrunner7 writes "There's a large-scale attack underway that is targeting Web servers running Microsoft's IIS software, injecting the sites with a specific malicious script. The attack has compromised tens of thousands of sites already, experts say, and there's no clear indication of who's behind the campaign right now. The attack, which researchers first noticed earlier this week, already has affected a few high-profile sites, including those belonging to The Wall Street Journal and The Jerusalem Post. Some analyses of the IIS attack suggest that it is directed at a third-party ad management script found on these sites."
Privacy

Australian Police To Investigate Google Over Wi-Fi Scanning 117

Posted by Soulskill from the hopping-on-the-bandwagon dept.
daria42 writes "Those who thought the brouhaha over Google's scanning of Wi-Fi networks by its Street View cars was over (whether you believe it was deliberate or not) are destined to be disappointed. News comes from Australia over the weekend that the Australian government has referred the matter to the Australian Federal Police for investigation. The country's Attorney General, Robert McClelland, was quoted saying, 'Obviously I won't pre-empt the outcome of that investigation but they relate in substantial part to possible breaches of the Telecommunications Interception Act, which prevents people accessing electronic information other than for authorized purposes.'"

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